Google Adwords can never be cancelled

[Conservopath]

Regarding my attempt to cancel my Adwords account both manually and by contacting Adwords customer service.

I have discovered to my dismay, that Google does not permit an Adwords user to permanently close his account once it has been activated.

Here is the Google Adwords cancellation process:

1) Log into your account.
2) Click the my account tab at the top of the page.
3) Click the Account preferences tab at the top of the page.
4) Click the cancel account link at the bottom of the right hand column -and fill out the required information.

And then guess what? Your account is not canceled but only deactivated. It can easily be re-activated with a simple click of the Reactivation link provided.

Nothing changes. Your Adwords account remains in place, only hibernating. All of your information: Old Adwords campaigns, credit card information etc, remains in place.

So much for canceling your Google Adwords account.
I suppose I have no choice but to cancel the credit card I used for this account- to assure Google will not have access to my financial information- and move on.

Before anyone tells me I am paranoid, and should implicitly trust such a large, and 'reputable' company as Google; Read this. or this.

Typical.

C.

[magda]

From google's point of view, they don't want people closing accounts, then starting new ones without it relating back to what happened in their old account. Look at the number of posts in this forum that claim the way to solve a problem in an account is close it and start a new one.
As for the legal claim - big companies get sued all the time, and even the links you point to seem to think that the payout Google is making is in fact a drop in the ocean to them compared to their huge turnover. I don't hold google in any higher - or lower - regard than any other big company.
And you do come across as a bit paranoid, as looking at your other posts, you were worried about click-fraud before you even had any clicks!

[loshara]

if your account is cancelled and all campaigns deleted, google is not going to charge your for anything.

So does it matter for you if your account is "deactivated" or "deleted"?

[Conservopath]

Originally Posted by loshara

if your account is cancelled and all campaigns deleted, google is not going to charge your for anything.

So does it matter for you if your account is "deactivated" or "deleted"?

It matters to me when a company with which I no longer wish to do business, retains my banking information. You cannot remove your credit card of record without providing a new one. If you trust Google, that's your business, but i have found them to be dishonest.

How do you feel about Google maintaining a database of every search you make using their engine-indefinitely?

I am sure Google has assigned damage control watchdogs to a Webmastering, revenue driven forum this large. But have a nice day.

C.

[Conservopath]

Originally Posted by magda

And you do come across as a bit paranoid, as looking at your other posts, you were worried about click-fraud before you even had any clicks!

Paranoia is but a heightened state of awareness. Paranoid schizophrenia is another matter altogether. When dealing with the corporate world, I'll always err on the side of caution and cynicism. Do you really believe the corporations aren't out to screw the consumer at every opportunity? What planet are you from?

And as for click fraud? I have Google charges on my credit card that have yet to be explained despite several emails to the Google staff. Do you work for google?

C.

[Masterful]

I personally appreciate being able to go back into an old account and generate old reports. Sometimes these can be very useful.

[rmartish]

I have to agree with those that say that if you choose to close your account Google should let you do it. There is no reason why Google needs to keep your information on their databases. This is the same reason why people hate Microsoft because they no longer listen to there customers.

[PPC-Coach]

I'm pretty sure all big companies keep data on their clients, new and old. Just because they might say "it's closed" doesn't mean they dont' keep all your information in their database. IF google said, "ok it's deleted", but still kept the information, would the make you feel better about it?

[Conservopath]

Originally Posted by PPC-Coach

I'm pretty sure all big companies keep data on their clients, new and old. Just because they might say "it's closed" doesn't mean they dont' keep all your information in their database. IF google said, "ok it's deleted", but still kept the information, would the make you feel better about it?

I am afraid you make a very good point PPC, which is why I went ahead and canceled the credit card I used for my Google Adwords account. Google can keep all the info they want, but they no longer have a hand in my pocket.

But if Google acknowledged an account as irreversibly closed, at least you would have some legal protection were any unauthorised charges to appear from a defunct account.


C.

[Loud Mouth Soup]

Originally Posted by Conservopath

Paranoia is but a heightened state of awareness.

Do you really believe the corporations aren't out to screw the consumer at every opportunity? What planet are you from?

Just....wow.

I'm from earth, which appears to be light years away from wherever you arrived from.

[Johu]

Originally Posted by Conservopath

I am afraid you make a very good point PPC, which is why I went ahead and canceled the credit card I used for my Google Adwords account. Google can keep all the info they want, but they no longer have a hand in my pocket.

But if Google acknowledged an account as irreversibly closed, at least you would have some legal protection were any unauthorised charges to appear from a defunct account.


C.

Wow, you are paranoid. You are already not liable for any unauthorized charges on your credit card - If this were ever to happen, you just contact your credit card company, and they'll reverse the charge. Your click fraud posts have nothing to do with "trusting" a company with your billing data...

[rmartish]

No matter how you put it it seems big companies no longer respect there customers. If you want out you should be able to get out. Period.

[Conservopath]

Originally Posted by Johu

Wow, you are paranoid. You are already not liable for any unauthorized charges on your credit card - If this were ever to happen, you just contact your credit card company.

Right. Dealing with visa is a cake walk. If there is an unauthorised charge on your credit card, just report it, and they will reimburse you immediately

C.

[rmartish]

Seems odd that Visa has a better Customer Policy then Google or Microsoft. Maybe they need to hire some Visa Employees.

[Nectarine]

Originally Posted by Conservopath

Before anyone tells me I am paranoid, and should implicitly trust such a large, and 'reputable' company as Google.

As a rule: I don't really trust anything that's not a living being. You should never automatically trust anyone, but honestly your link doesn't prove anything other than the fact that there are unscrupulous webmasters out there. Is there click-fraud? Yes, and it's a multi-million dollar problem. If you do a search for adsense on this forum, you'll see people talking about how they've done it and ways to get away with it! That's not Google's fault.

Frankly, almost all problems associated with advertising via adwords (and the resulting complaints) are because of pilot error. Not listing price in the ad, bad link, bad ad copy, bad page design, bad product, bad timing -- I have had people with all of these issues swear up and down that they were the victim of click-fraud. I have also had people with all of these issues make a profit once they fixed them.

I'm not going to lie, I think you're really over-reacting to this situation. I think if you're that worried, you should just get a visa gift card (you can buy these in stores or online) for $25 and change the credit card numbers on Google. But cancelling your debit card is a bit steep.

~N

[alexs464]

Hey guys.

I had my Windows XP remade by a programmer friend... Because Microsoft uses a tool called "ALEXA" which picks up all the info without you knowing... ( what do you do, when, how, where)... I dont know what google does with our info though... but I don't want a company to keep their eye on EVERY little thing I do.